Changing Landscape Of Singapore (1)

I was at the River Hongbao yesterday. River Hongbao is being held at The Float@Marina Bay, previously known as Marina Bay Floating Platform. (Have you noticed that even names of places keep changing here?)

While at the event, one can't help but notice the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) standing just behind the God of Fortune. It is as if he is blessing the soon to be completed MBS with good luck in the Year of the Tiger.

Coincidentally, its counterpart Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) opened its doors at the auspicious time of 12.18 pm on 14 February 2010, the first day of the Lunar New Year.

ST Photo dated 16 February, 2010

Perhaps a not so well-known but no less important "opening" is the recent launch of the online newspapers archive called NewspaperSG. It is an initiative of the National Library Singapore that provides library patrons with access to digital copies of Singapore newspapers dating back to 1831.

Do you know whose original idea it was to build the Integrated Resorts? Certainly not this guy. Searching through NewspaperSG, I found a letter in the Straits Times Forum page of 10 June 1985 which was written by someone with the pseudonym "Go for Broke" who suggested the development of a casino as well as a night racing track in Sentosa. (Possibly since the 1990s, Straits Times had disallowed the use of pseudonyms for letters to the Forum.) The letter is reproduced here:

Sentosa casino will draw tourists

While neighbouring countries are feverishly developing new holiday resorts to promote tourism, our own efforts in this area seem perfunctory by comparison.

On our part, we should upgrade Sentosa into a holiday resort of international standard. We could, I venture to suggest, develop a hotel-cum-casino complex there and perhaps throw in a race track for night racing as a novelty.

In these difficult times for the tourism industry, bold and imaginative steps need to be taken by the authorities concerned to attract more tourists to our shores.

GO FOR BROKE
Singapore 2056

Guess what was the reply from Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC)? The suggestions were dismissed, of course. Here's the reply dated 15 June 1985 from Miss Cheryl Lee, Head (Public Relations) of SDC:

Casino out of the question for Sentosa

We refer to the letter "Sentosa casino will draw tourists" by "Go for Broke". (ST, June 10).

The development philosophy of the Sentosa Development Corporation is to develop Sentosa into a resort island for tourists and a holiday retreat for Singaporeans.

The many attractions cater for the varied needs of the visitors and are aimed at the family group as well as the individual. Plans are in hand to upgrade existing facilities as well as to add new attractions.

Wholesome recreational activities are also organised for a wider participation. The casino and race track idea does not form part of the aforementioned concept.

We would however wish to thank "Go for Broke" for his interesting suggestions.

CHERYL LEE (MISS)
Head (Public Relations)
SDC

A quarter of a century later, everyone now knows that both ideas of "Go for Broke" have been adopted by the Government, although the night racing track is not located in Sentosa. But we did even better, didn't we? We will soon have TWO casinos instead of one. And the rest, as they say, is history.

In fact, we should thank "Go for Broke" for the suggestion to develop the casino and night racing track. He/she is obviously someone with great foresight. The only problem about expressing our gratitude is that we don't even his/her real name!

The Tiger Creeps Upon Us

Before you know it
The tiger has crept near
And with the festival's spirit
Heralds the end of Ox year

From Chinatown to Little India
There are sights and sounds
Of the passing of another year
As visitors make their rounds

A Wood Tiger in a Metal Year
Not a favorite time to have a baby
Don't mistake it for Tiger Woods last year
Who played many holes but paid dearly

Forget about past unhappiness
Tomorrow is a new beginning
Whether you're running a business
Or like most who're just working

May the new year be happy
Welcome the God of Fortune
Wish you health and prosperity
And all hopes be realised soon

Gong Xi Gong Xi

More Chinese New Year Greetings

I think this CNY SMS message is quite cute and would like to share it with you. It consists of 12 auspicious wishes, each of them starting with a character of a Chinese zodiac animal. Some of the wishes very cleverly play on the similar sounds of different Chinese characters:

给您送上祝福。 原您鼠年开始 - Here's wishing you, starting from the Year of the Rat

鼠钱不完！ Count (~rat) money to no end!

牛那样壮！ As strong as a cow!

虎虎生威！ As powerful as a tiger!

兔气扬眉！ Success in everything that you do!

龙马精神！ Health!

蛇得消费！ Willing (~snake) to spend money!

马到功成！ All your endeavours meet with success!

羊洋得意！ Live in joy and happiness!

猴会有期！ We will meet later (~monkey)!

鸡不可失！ Catch every opportunity (~rooster)!

狗用就算！ Sufficient (~dog) to spend is enough!

猪你发财！ Wish (~pig) you wealth!

Early Born Expensive Son

For the Chinese, it is not enough that the New Year be happy - it must be prosperous too. That's why you can find this larger-than-life Cai Shen Ye (财神爷) or Wealth God within Shaw Centre.


Ironically, I don't have that much wealth to acquire such a large Wealth God but I certainly could afford a 10-inch version which costs me only $13.80:


However, don't you underestimate this little plump fellow. He can gyrate his body and head better than a seasoned Indian dancer. Not only that, he does that in synchronisation with disco lights and with the accompaniment of an auspicious albeit noisy song titled Cai Shen Dao (财神到). But I don't know if he will really bring wealth to my family. We shall wait and see.

Let me wish you a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year with the following wishes:

1. Wish Happy Be Rich

2. Horse Arrive Work Done

3. Step Step High Rise

4. Year Year Got Fish

5. One Road Smooth Wind

6. Heart Think Work Done

7. Dragon Horse Sperm God

If you thought that I came up with the above wishes myself, then you couldn't be more wrong. Believe it or not, they were published exactly 5 years ago in our Business Times!

Oh by the way, the wishes mean:

1. Wishing you happiness and prosperity (Gong Xi Fa Cai 恭喜发财)

2. Wishing you quick success in everything you do (Ma Dao Gong Cheng 马到工成)

3. May you rise up the ranks (Bu Bu Gao Sheng 步步高升)

4. May you have excess and abundance (Nian Nian You Yu 年年有余)

5. May you have a smooth journey (Yi Lu Shun Feng 一路顺风)

6. May your heart's desires come true (Xin Xiang Shi Cheng 心想事成)

7. Wishing you excellent health and vitality (Long Ma Jing Shen 龙马精神)

The article was forwarded to me by a colleague recently. My reply to him was:

"May the Sperm God bestow you with Early Born Expensive Son."

Oops... on second thought, it sounded more like I was referring to my premature son whose hospital bill came up to more than $30,000 without subsidy.

Actually, I meant to wish him to be blessed with a precious baby soon (Zao Sheng Gui Zi 早生贵子)

A Fitting End To CNY

The Chinese celebrates CNY for 15 days. During this period, we are supposed to treat everyone well, saying gong xi, gong xi (恭喜,恭喜) to everyone we meet. Today is the last day of CNY i.e. yuan xiao (元宵) and we can stop being nice to people.

Today, we dined at another of our favourite restaurants which was located in Upper Thomson Road because we would have starved to death if we depend on other people to invite us for meals:



It serves cheap and good Peranakan food. The 4 small dishes in the photo below, plus hee pio (fish maw) soup cost us me only $26.20. There is no service charge but 5% GST applies till end June 2007 after which it goes up to 7%. Don't forget to ask for their hot-and-yummy sambal belacan chilli to go with your food:



On the way to the restaurant, our family again ran into an auspicious event. It was a dragon dance at a shophouse in Upper Thomson Road:

The dragon taking a breather after the hectic movements.

The dragon dance is seldom seen in Singapore nowadays. Having run into a lion dance on the second day of CNY while on our way to the National Museum and then a dragon dance on the last day of CNY, I hope that this year augurs well for my family and I. (However, when I got home tonight, I had another brush with the dragon. More about this later.)

After the very satisfying dinner, we went for a nice walk at the Upper Seletar Reservoir:

We watched the very mesmerizing sunset there:



When I got home in the evening and accessed Chris's blog, I saw the dragon in him breathing fire at the monkey in me.

It reminded me that earlier today, I also visited a toy sale at B1 Parkway Parade. There I saw something which Chris would like:



That must be the other woman in Chris' life besides Barbie. Notice the words in the bottom left of the box say, "HANDSOME APPEARANCE" and not "BEAUTIFUL APPEARANCE". Ah, just the right type for Chris.

Next to the toy sale was a health food sale. A bottle on the shelf must be what Chris takes daily as a supplement:



At first, when Chris claimed that he was a SNAG and not effeminate, I thought that he meant he was a dead tree that was still standing (not only when he is p***ing). Later, I found out that SNAG could also mean 'sensitive new age guy'. Then even later, I found that SNAG for Chris probably meant 'Sensitive and NAGs'.

Oh I nearly forgot. At the toy sale, I saw a versatile mechanical hand:



Squeeze the handle at the other end and the hand closes:



It could even be used to send a not-so-subtle message to Chris:



Is this your turn to ask for war, Chris? As you can see, I am very well-prepared. Hng.

5 CNY Traditions

(Caution: This is a very long post. Read only when you have the time and when the boss is not looking.)

Everybody I know in blogosphere seems to be blogging about Chinese New Year (CNY). First Chun See and then Chris. Looks like I must also keep up with this tradition and blog about 5 CNY traditions (not including the one on blogging about CNY). I have blogged about Chinese New Year visits last year. So this year, I shall just cover 2 places our family visited. I am writing about the following 5 things: the re-union dinner (nian ye fan 年夜饭 or tuan yuan fan 团员饭), a visit to River Hong Bao, a visit to NAMOS, the lion dance (wu shi 舞狮) and home decorations.


1. The Re-union Dinner (nian ye fan 年夜饭 or tuan yuan fan 团员饭)

The re-union dinner is a must-have CNY tradition. But increasingly, more and more families are not having home-cooked re-union dinners. (Not everyone is as fortunate as Chris even though a steamboat is more like a self-cooked meal rather than a home-cooked one.) The reason for this trend is due to several reasons. Firstly, Singaporeans are generally getting wealthier and most could afford a re-union dinner at a restaurant. Anyway, the dinner comes but once a year and there's really no need to stinge. Secondly, most cooks family matriachs (as Chris so elegantly puts it) are getting older, that is if they are still around. It is certainly tough work whipping up an elaborate dinner for dozens of people from extended families, even though it is only a 'simple' steamboat dinner. And then there is the cleaning up afterwards - not just the dishes but also the mopping of the floor. We are wealthier but not all of us will lend a helping hand can afford a maid or even want one.

This year (and last), we had our re-union dinner at the Soup Restaurant at Terminal 2 of Changi Airport. Many other people had the same idea as us too - the restaurant was already fully booked for CNY eve when we enquired one week earlier. So we had to settle for dinner on the eve of CNY eve, i.e. Friday, 16 Feb 2007. A simple dinner for 7 adults and 5 children came up to $184, a very reasonable amount by any standard. Okay, we didn't have sharks fins, abalone or yu sheng but still, we had great company which is the real point of having a re-union dinner, isn't it?

2. A Visit To River Hong Bao

It has been a tradition for Singapore to hold a River Hong Bao carnival in conjunction with the CNY for many years already now. (However, this was the first time that my family visited the carnival on CNY eve, immediately after having our very own informal 're-union' dinner at Hong Kong Cafe in East Coast Road.) This year, the carnival is held at the Esplanade Park just next to the Padang, a popular place for courting couples in the middle of the last century. I took some photos of the carnival and of the scenery in the vicinity. Do bring your family there if you can spare the time as it is worth a visit. I think the carnival ends on the 15th day of CNY.

















3. A Visit To NAMOS




Admission to the NAMOS (National Museum Of Singapore) was free on 19 Feb 2007. (Normal admission charges are $10 for adult and $5 for children.) As Singaporeans love to queue, and my family is Singaporean, we were there that day. The NAMOS was re-opened to the public only a few months ago.

I must say that the new NAMOS is very high-tech and impressive, especially the History Gallery. You see, every visitor is given an electronic gadget called a Companion. As you walk within the gallery, there is a large number printed on the floor within each exhibit area. Key in the number on your Companion, hit the 'Go' button and the companion will narrate (through clip-on headphones) related stories about the exhibit area.



Next to some exhibits there are numbers which you could key into the Companion to retrieve text about the exhibit. Cool. However, although there is a choice of text in various languages, including Japanese, narration is only in available in English.

It is dimly lit within the History Gallery. I nearly tripped over a dark-colour bench while spending quality time with my Companion and almost sprained my ankle again.

If you visit the History Gallery during CNY and are superstitious, be prepared to come face to face to a traditional Chinese funeral complete with a real coffin exhibit:





Because of the above reasons, I would recommend that illiterate and superstitious IT idiots, especially the elderly should give NAMOS a miss. (My sincere apologies to Walter. This is just my sincere personal opinion.)


4. The Lion Dance (wu shi 舞狮)

The lion dance performance during CNY is known as cai qing (采青). During the performance, a big red packet (hong bao 红包) is suspended high at the end of a bamboo stick. By 'big', I don't mean the physical size of the red packet but the money enclosed within it, of course. The red packet is usually camouflaged by some green vegetables (although I still can't figure out how green vegetables can effectively camouflage a red packet unless the lion happened to be colour-blind).

Unlike the re-union dinner, the lion dance is not a must-have. Although I have seen lion troupes perform at HDB flats before, most families do not summon a lion dance troupe to perform at their homes. For one thing, lion dances obviously do not come cheap. I do not know the market price for a performance but I guess it must in the region of hundreds of dollars. Hence, most lion dances are performed at business premises where expenses for lion dances are probably tax-deductible.

However on 19 Feb 2007 (2nd day of CNY or 大年初二), I witnessed a lion dance performance at an unusual location - the Singapore Philatelic Museum. It must be hoping that the lion dance will somehow boost the visitor numbers to the museum in the Year Of The Golden Pig. (Walter, can confirm this?)



5. Home Decorations

There are certain things that we decorate our homes with during CNY and they each has a symbolic meaning.

Spring Couplets (chun lian 春联) herald good luck for CNY:


Flowers welcome the arrival of spring and symbolises renewal:



Lanterns symbolise a bright future:



Oranges symbolise gold or wealth:



Pineapples (huang li 黄梨) sounds like (wang lai 旺来), especially in dialects and literally means 'prosperity comes':



I learnt from the show 'I Not Stupid 2' that some Chinese believe that if a pregnant woman eats a lot of pineapple, the baby might be aborted. Of course, this is not true otherwise we don't need any obstetricians and gynaecologists.

However, I only learnt recently that a certain part of the pineapple can be used to pleasure a woman. Not the thorny crown or the rough skin, mind you, otherwise you would really need an obstetrician and gynaecologist. I shall not go into further details here as I treasure my coconuts, a symbol of the reason for my maleness and virility. I don't know how true this claim is as I dare not try it.

Some Chinese even display two pineapples in their homes during CNY as they believe that everything should come in a pair:



Chris and Walter, no prizes for guessing where the second pineapple should fit into.

Muahahaha.